“Good, because I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t recruit the best possible players. If I do what I’m supposed to, there should be four other guys with equal or better talent on the team at your position,” Coach Swank explained.
When he said it like that, it made perfect sense for Clemson. I would have to decide if it made perfect sense for me.
Coaches Swank and Brady talked about how they envisioned me fitting in at Clemson. It was apparent that everything I’d been told was true. They would work my butt off, but in return, they would have my back. One of the problems at State had been the treatment of players. They’d fired their coach because he was more worried about wins than the health of his team. With the pressure to win games, you could see where coaches would look out for their best interests ahead of those of the players they’d recruited.
The other side of it was the treatment of the players who didn’t seem to work out. It wasn’t uncommon at some schools to try to force out players who didn’t cut it. It was refreshing to hear what the Clemson coaches were saying.
I guess it was good that I’d learned to take my time in making a decision because I was leaning towards going to Clemson. If I was forced to pick today, it would be a coin flip between Michigan and here. It was good to have choices.
The last thing I did was check out the baseball facilities. Clemson had gone 44–21 overall, but only 16–13 in conference play. They’d finished behind number 10 Louisville, number 26 Notre Dame, and number 12 Florida State in the ACC Atlantic Division. Number 1 Virginia and number 6 Miami (FL) were atop the Coastal Division. I was assured that if I came, they would let me play baseball.
◊◊◊
When we finally got home, we found Caryn and Megan talking to Greg and Angie.
“Unca David! Unca David!” Mac and Kyle yelled as they ran to me.
“What’s up, Munchkins?”
“We not munchkins,” Mac complained.
They then told me all about going to Grandma Dawson’s farm and seeing goats. Peggy came in the back door, and I heard two crying babies. Duke came in and promptly knocked Nate down. We now had three crying babies. Mac looked around and started to scrunch up her face. I clapped my hands.
“No crying,” I ordered.
That seemed to work for Nate and Mac. Coby and Little David needed their dad.
“They’re shook-up. I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a squirrel,” Peggy explained.
I wanted to tell her to go ahead and off the squirrel instead of risking an accident. Instead, I worked my magic on my boys.
Mom saw that no one had thought about dinner, so she had Greg order Monical’s. Dad and I took the still-snuffling boys to the office to talk to Caryn and Megan.
◊◊◊
“Granny and Mary saw the finished videos you and Tracy made. They want to use them as advertising,” Caryn said.
“I think they’re too long,” I guessed.
Most ads were under a minute, and both videos were closer to three.
“I talked to a couple of TV stations, and they had another idea. They would use the clips as filler on their morning shows. They suggested that Thursday mornings would be best. I got one to accept ten episodes,” Caryn said.
“I’m not sure I want to commit to something like that.”
Then I had another thought.
“You realize doing that will count towards my ‘business time,’” I pointed out.
“Speaking of schedules, your Japanese classes start this week,” Megan said.
I just nodded. When I looked at my calendar, I’d seen that it had been added.
I was glad when our meeting was over in record time. I think Dad planned it to end when the pizza arrived.
It was nice to have family time tonight. The boys were being clingy, so I offered to take them to my place tonight to sleep. I could tell that Peggy needed a break.
Somehow, Greg and I ended up with all five little ones. My two got their baths and were ready to sleep, so I put them in their beds.
“How have you been?” Greg asked.
“I’d finally had enough and pushed back on having my life planned 24/7.”
“I’ll bet Brook is happy.”
“She sure seems to be. She joined us on this weekend’s trip. I’m glad I decided to have a steady girlfriend.”
“I wondered about that. If I were you, I’d probably be going a little crazy,” Greg said.
I knew better. Greg never went out with multiple girls at once. He also never dated anyone for more than four to six weeks.
“How are you and Angie doing?” I asked.
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“There are days I’m the happiest man in the world, and then …” he trailed off.
Angie could be self-centered. She and I had locked horns a couple of times when she acted selfishly.
Greg and I left his doubts unstated. His little ones had finally run down, and I helped him gather them up and take them to the car. I gave my brother a hug and said a silent prayer.
◊◊◊ Monday October 3
I took the boys to the house and found a rested Peggy making coffee.
“Were they any trouble?”
“No, they slept through the night,” I said as I put them into their high chairs.
